1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a Cable Wrench and, more particularly, this invention relates to a Cable Wrench that guides, connects and disconnects an F-Connector male end, attached to a coaxial cable, to an F-Connector female connection on a TV, VCR, computer or any other device that uses coaxial cable or a cable splitter. Further, this invention prevents the coaxial cable from becoming disengaged, or from slipping out of the cable wrench; it also provides a low cost, precise, easily manufactured tool. This tool will be extremely valuable to persons skilled in the field of cable installation and it will also be extremely valuable to lay persons who occasionally have to connect or disconnect coaxial cable.
2. Description of Related Arts
The function of this invention is carried out today using a tool that has a wrench socket that includes a socket connection portion adapted to receive a lug member and a straight slot portion that runs axially along the length of the handle for coaxial cable placement. With this tool it is necessary to run or place the coaxial cable into the straight slot to place the socket connection portion over the lug member. The tool is then rotated to tighten or loosen the connection. While using the current tool, and during rotation, it is common for the coaxial cable to eject, or to pop out of the straight slot, at which point the cable tends to wrap around the cable tool and the user's hand and can also cause the cable to break away from the F-Connector. Also, the current tool is not wide enough behind the hex stop, thus preventing the tool from turning freely. In other words, it does not allow or have room for a crimped F-Connector, and therefore the tool is unable to rotate freely around the F-Connector. Also, the current tool is narrow at the leading end of the tool, thereby covering and obscuring the nut and the small copper wire of the coaxial cable, making it difficult for the user to see and to place the wrench end of the tool over the connector ring of the male end of the F-type connector.
Another existing tool in the art is a screw-driver based design equipped with a straight slot down the side and a hex head. This tool slides over a coaxial cable and down to an F-Connector. With simple rotation, like a screwdriver, the connector can be tightened or loosened. This tool is intended to simplify the process of attaching and removing coaxial cables by preventing the wrapping of the cable around the tool and the user's hand. (See U.S. 20020002882, Little Fingers, Lucius Neil Jonett.) Again, however, the problem with this tool is that because it utilizes a straight slot the coaxial cable does not stay in the slot. Consequently, the cable wraps around the user's hand and is not stable, making it difficult to screw the connector ring. Also, the tool does not allow for easy use with a crimped F-Connector, and therefore it is unable to freely rotate around the F-Connector.
Another prior tool is an F-type connector installation and removal tool by Michael Holland, U.S. 20040092165. This is a tool that is operable for connecting a male F-type coaxial cable connector to a female F-type connector. The tool includes a wrench portion and a grasping portion that is affixed to and integral with the wrench portion. The leading end and preferably the trailing end of the grasping portion are slotted. This tool allows accessibility to tight spaces, but again, this is a slotted tool and the slot configuration does not prevent the cable from wrapping around the user's hand. Also, the current tool does not allow for a crimped F-Connector, and therefore the tool is unable to rotate around the F-Connector freely.
Still another prior tool is one by Zamanazadeh, U.S. Pat. No. 5,992,010 that discloses a coaxial cable connecting tool that includes a hollow elongated housing comprised of two halves hinged together. The halves are closed around a female coaxial cable connector. When the halves are closed a hexagonal hole is formed at one end, and another hole is formed at the opposite end. The hexagonal sleeve on the connector is snugly positioned in the hexagonal hole, and the cable is positioned through the opposite hole. The sleeve is then rotated by turning the housing by hand. The housing is substantially wider than the sleeve on the connector, and includes a hexagonal outer surface, so that it may be easily gripped and turned by hand. In a second embodiment the housing is provided as a built-in component on new connectors. Again, this tool does not provide an extra wide notch at the hex end for wide or crimped cable; it does not provide an extra notch or cut away for visibility; nor does it prevent the cable from wrapping around the tool or the user's hand.
The present invention provides several advantages over the currently existing tools. With respect to the currently existing tools, none of them prevent the cable from wrapping around the tool and/or the user's hand; they do not allow for a wide or crimped F-Connector; and they do not provide an extra wide notch or cut away at the wrench portion to enable better visibility while connecting the male to the female ends.